All of our strength is in our union, all of our danger is in our discord-(paraphrased)- Henry Wardsworth
The Students' Union appreciate with utmost gratitude the mass of Greatest Uites who came out in their numbers for the congress of Saturday.
You have proven to us again that the power of leadership lies in its acceptance by the rank of its followers, and that in our struggle against injustice, we do not 'fight for' students, we fight 'with students' (backing us).
It is also imortant to say that we were moved by the doggedness and resilience of Greatest Uites when they insisted that the management of the University adresses them on the various issues raised at the congress concernng students' welfare.
It was also decided at the congress level that the mass of UI students would mobilize to Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) today,Monday, 7th of March, 2016.
The flash protest was ended on the note that as a matter of urgency, the Vice Chancellor should meet the entirety of student leaders across board.
Greatest Uites, the meeting held as planned, but not without the expected craftiness of the 'powers that be'. It was earlier concluded at the protest ground that all Students' Union leaders, Principal officers of the SRC, Faculty Presidents and Hall Chairpersons meet the Vice Chancellor at our own Students' Union Building since he was not able to make it to the congress ground since he was reported to be out of town.
But to our surprise, our agreement was betrayed and a sabotage was planned as the meeting was rescheduled to be a meeting with just six representatives rather than the over 30- men earlier planned. But, the President of the Students' Union demanded that unless the earlier agreed number of persons are allowed to attend the meeting, it will not be honoured.
The meeting eventually held, there were arguments back and forth, and we discovered that the management of the University cannot precisely and categorically say what is wrong with the electricity supply.
While on one hand, they blame the IBEDC for the drop in supply rate, at the other hand, they yet say the fault is not from them. It bewildered us that the school management still claims that the underground cables that convey electricity to our halls have problems; we have heard this story over and over again in the last one year.
When will the cables be repaired?
This is the crux of the matter, for those expecting another mass movement to Dugbe today as earlier planned, it becomes important first to say that the mass movement has been put on hold for now.
In our findings, we discovered that the problem of power outage is not exclusively from IBEDC, there must be a fault within the University system because despite the purpoted drop in supply by the IBEDC, our colleagues at The Polytechnic Ibadan, Federal School of Cooperative and others in Ibadan had satisfiable power supply while the University of Ibadan grumbled in darkness. It therefore becomes imperative to make necessary findings and ensure proper dicussion with IBEDC to confirm if really the fault is from them; else we will make a fool of ourselves if we march down to Dugbe with students in their large numbers only to discover that the problem is from our own home.
Therefore, a 10-man delegation to be led by the Speaker of the SRC has been sent to IBEDC head office in Ibadan to make meticulous findings. The result of the findings will determine the direction of further agitations.
Similarly, the President of the Students' Union shall lead another delegation to UI water to ensure swift control of the abysmal rise in the price of pure water on campus, and also to inspect the production process in order to curb the microbial contamination in the sachet water.
Once again, the direction of our agitation as regards electricity supply would be communicated to Greatest Uites.
We want to assure you that the leadership of the Union was not and can not maneuvered by the University management.
We have sworn to defend your interest, and that will be done with utmost commitment.
Thank you.
God bless our Union,
Amandla Awethu!
Signed:
Ayantola Alayande Maximus
P.R.O, Students' Union 14/15
Olateju Aliyu Oladimeji
President, Students' Union 14/15
Tags:
News